New Book Reveals Google’s Behind-The-Scenes Reaction to Apple’s iPhone

A recently released book that details the bitter rivalry between Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) provides some fascinating insider views on how Android’s engineers reacted to the release of the original iPhone in 2007. According to an excerpt from Fred Vogelstein’s book recently published in The Atlantic, Google was planning on launching an Android-powered smartphone codenamed “Sooner” by the end of 2007.

However, in January of 2007, Steve Jobs unveiled the revolutionary iPhone at the Macworld convention in San Francisco. Android software engineer and former Apple employee Chris DeSalvo recalled his reaction to first seeing the iPhone in Dogfight: How Apple and Google Went to War and Started a Revolution. “As a consumer I was blown away. I wanted one immediately,” said DeSalvo. “But as a Google engineer, I thought ‘We’re going to have to start over.’”

Although Google had developed a mobile operating system with an Internet browser and multiple apps, its “Sooner” device was immediately made obsolete by the iPhone’s futuristic touchscreen-centered design. Google’s Sooner device emulated BlackBerry’s (NASDAQ:BBRY) clunky use of a traditional keyboard and featured a small display without a touchscreen user interface. “What we had suddenly looked just so nineties,” recalled DeSalvo via The Atlantic. “It’s just one of those things that are obvious when you see it.” Android executive Ethan Beard was also amazed by the iPhone’s revolutionary design. “We knew that Apple was going to announce a phone. Everyone knew that,” noted Beard via The Atlantic’s book excerpt. “We just didn’t think it would be that good.”